Check for interactions with the customs processes
Updated 14 April 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/moving-excise-goods-as-freight-under-the-northern-ireland-protocol-from-1-january-2021/interactions-with-customs-processes
This guidance focuses on new processes and interactions that apply to businesses making excise freight movements involving Northern Ireland from 11pm on 31 December 2020.
Find more information about moving excise goods as freight under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Customs interactions
Excise goods moving directly between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) are domestic movements and will not require interactions with customs processes, except for goods entering Northern Ireland.
Find out more about moving goods under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Depending on the routes excise goods take there will be changes to the customs requirements from 11pm on 31 December 2020.
Excise goods entering Northern Ireland
Customs requirements will apply to all goods including excise goods that enter Northern Ireland. There may be some exceptions.
Excise movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland
You’ll need to submit an import declaration when you bring excise goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain. The import declaration should be made using the Customs Declarations Service (CDS) (along with any entry summary or safety and security declarations that will be required) and should be pre-lodged before the goods leave Great Britain.
When you move duty paid excise goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, you’ll need to apply the duty off-set mechanism when making your import declaration. Find more information about the duty off-set mechanism.
Excise movements from the EU to Northern Ireland
You’ll not need to submit an import declaration when you bring excise goods into Northern Ireland from the EU.
Excise movements from the rest of the world to Northern Ireland
You’ll need to submit an import declaration when you bring excise goods into Northern Ireland from any non-UK, non-EU country in line with all other goods and existing processes.
If you move goods indirectly between the EU, Great Britain and Northern Ireland different rules may apply. Check guidance on movements of excise goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain involving an EU member state.
Check if you need a Northern Ireland EORI
If you move goods to or from Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021, in addition to your existing EORI, you’ll need an EORI number that starts with ‘XI’ to:
- move goods between Northern Ireland and non-EU countries
- make a declaration in Northern Ireland
- get a customs decision in Northern Ireland
Find more information about EORI.
Using the Trader Support Service
If you move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Trader Support Service will guide you through any changes due to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Excise goods entering Great Britain
The following customs requirements will apply to excise goods entering Great Britain.
Excise movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain
You’ll not need to make an import declaration for excise goods entering Great Britain from Northern Ireland, unless those goods have travelled from, or through, the EU or the goods were not customs duty paid in Northern Ireland.
Excise movements from the rest of the world and the EU to Great Britain
As excise goods are controlled goods, from 11pm on 31 December 2020 you’ll need to make an import declaration for any excise goods that enter Great Britain from anywhere outside the UK customs territory. All excise duty due will be collected through the import declaration made in CHIEF. If you’re importing excise goods from outside the UK, you’ll also need a valid GB EORI.
Excise goods leaving Northern Ireland
Check the requirement for excise goods leaving Northern Ireland.
Excise movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain
No export declaration will be required for excise goods moving directly from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, provided the goods are in free circulation in Northern Ireland.
There are different rules for excise goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain through an EU member state.
Excise movements from Northern Ireland to the EU
No export declaration will be required for excise goods moving from Northern Ireland to an EU member state.
Excise movements from Northern Ireland to the rest of the world
You’ll need to make an export declaration when exporting excise goods out of Northern Ireland to any non-UK, non-EU destination.
Find more information about how your business can submit export declarations.
Movement of excise goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain involving an EU member state
There are some exceptions to the new customs interactions for excise goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain as part of a wider movement involving an EU member state.
Excise movements from Northern Ireland to Great Britain through the EU
Here, UK goods temporarily leave the UK customs territory when they leave Northern Ireland, and when they arrive in Great Britain an import declaration will be required. For excise goods, the import declaration will be used to ensure UK excise duty is accounted for. Import VAT and customs duties will not be payable on these goods on arrival in Great Britain, provided the goods were in free circulation in Northern Ireland.
If UK excise duty has already been paid on these goods you’ll be able to manually override the excise duty calculation in CHIEF by using the ‘EXD’ override code.
You’ll not be able to place goods on which UK excise duty has already been paid in Northern Ireland into excise duty suspension on entry to Great Britain and drawback the excise duty.
If the goods are not UK excise duty paid when they arrive in Great Britain, you must either pay the excise duty through the import declaration or place the goods into UK excise duty suspension.
When making your import declaration on CHIEF, in addition to overriding the excise duty calculation where applicable you can use the override codes ‘VAT’ to suppress the charge to import VAT and the override code ‘DTY’ to suppress any customs duty charges.
Excise movements from the EU into Great Britain through Northern Ireland
For continuous movements of excise goods from the EU to Great Britain through Northern Ireland you’ll need to submit an import declaration to account for UK excise duty or enter the goods into excise duty suspension when they arrive in Great Britain. This applies to EU movements in duty suspension or using EU duty paid processes, as the UK excise duty will not have been paid whilst the goods pass through Northern Ireland.
You’ll not need to pay customs duty on these movements as long as the goods were in free circulation in Northern Ireland and are not being moved through Northern Ireland for an avoidance purpose.
When making your import declaration on CHIEF you can use override codes ‘VAT’ to suppress any import VAT calculation and ‘DTY’ to suppress any customs duty calculation that should not be charged.
Find more information on importing excise goods to the UK from the EU.
Customs Special Procedures and excise goods
If you move excise goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and choose, upon entry to Northern Ireland, to place the goods into a customs special procedure any UK excise duty already collected will not be reimbursed. You cannot claim drawback in this situation.
Find more information about drawback claims under the Northern Ireland Protocol.
If you move excise goods in free circulation from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, you’ll not be able to place those excise goods into a customs special procedure on entry to Great Britain. There will be no customs duty charged on these goods when they arrive in Great Britain, provided the goods were not moved through Northern Ireland for an avoidance purpose, and no VAT will be charged at the point of arrival in Great Britain.
Union and Common Transit for excise movements
You can move excise goods between Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the EU using common or union transit instead of excise duty suspension.
When using transit, customs declarations and payment of all duties (including VAT and excise duty) are not required at each border crossing. Depending on the arrangement you use, some customs processes can also be completed away from the border.
However, if you move excise goods either from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, or Northern Ireland to Great Britain through the EU you’ll still need to submit a customs import declaration when the goods are discharged from the transit procedure in Great Britain.
Find more information about how to move goods between or through common transit countries.
Manual EMCS closures
Where excise duty suspended movements that begin in Great Britain are processed on the Excise Movement and Control System as a DTC-6 (an export) the movement will be closed through the export process.
As there will be no requirement to submit export declarations when goods move from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, the EMCS movement will not close automatically.
The only scenario where this should occur is a continuous movement of excise goods in duty suspension from Great Britain to the EU through Northern Ireland. If you make a DTC-6 movement and are not required to submit an export declaration, you’ll need to take steps to have the movement closed manually by HMRC.
We will look to automate closure of these movements in the future.
Contact the EMCS helpdesk for more information on how to submit a request for manual closure.